t , e T, 


W-iil 


BY 

REV.  D.  E.  EVANS. 

GOOD  WILL,  SOUTH  DAKOTA. 


LITERATURE  DEPARTMENT. 

Woman's  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.S.A., 

156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 


I’l-ice  two  cents  each.  Si. .50  per  HKl. 
No.  .3U1— id.  Ed.— P,  I90H. 


Early  History. 

Koaming  over  the  great  territory  covered  now  by 
the  states  of  Minnesota  and  North  and  South  Dakota, 
tliere  used  to  be  a number  of  warlike  Indian  tribes. 
Tliese  peoj)le called  themselves  the  “'Dakotas' h mean- 
ing the  “allied"  or  friendly  tribes.  Their  inveterate 
enemies,  the  Ojibways  (Chii)i)ewas)  who  lived  in 
whut  has  since  been  called  Wisconsin,  called  these 
Dakota  Indians  by  the  name  “Sioux",  which  means 
(literally  “snakes").  Their  fietjuent  en- 
counters with  these  Ojibways  i)roduced  in  them  a 
warlike  spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  strengthened  the 
liond  of  union  existing  between  the  tribes  so  that  the 
“Sioux  Nation"  became  widely  known  as  the  most 
])owerful  body  of  Indians  on  the  continent.  They 
were  also  considered  the  most  treachei-ous  and  blood- 
thirsty, and  when  they  went  on  the  warpath,  their 
most  i-elentless  enemies  trembled.  In  times  of  peace 
the  men  hunted  the  buffalo,  which  supplied  them 
with  meat  and  robes,  and  the  women  cultivated  little 
)>atches  which  supplied  their  scanty  supply  of  food. 
“The  Sioux  would  rather  tight  than  work,''  was  said 
of  them  by  one  who  knew  them  thoroughly.  The 
United  States  Government  fought  them  for  years,  but 
they  were  rever  conquered.  Finding  it  “cheaper  t(» 
feed  them  than  to  tight  them",  a treaty  was  concluded 
with  them  which  ol)ligated  the  Goveimment  to  give 
to  each  man,  woman  and  child  l)elonging  to  the  tribe 
a full  soldier's  ration  daily. 

Missionary  Effort. 

Such  were  the  conditions  existing  among  the  Dako- 
tas when  the  IIoi.y  Spikit  put  into  the  hearts  of  two 
young  men  in  Washington,  Connecticut,  to  leave  their 
home  and  friends  to  make  known  to  the  Indians  the 
blessings  of  Christianity.  These  young  men  were 
Samuel  W.  and  Gideon  H.  Pond,  who  with  John  3: 
16  as  their  motto  came  unsent  by  man.  even  against 
opposition  at  home,  to  preach  by  example  and  pre- 


cept  the  unsearcliiil)le  riches  of  Christ  among  the 
Sioux.  This  was  in  May,  1834.  and  on  I'eaching  Ft. 
Sneliing,  at  the  nioutli  of  St.  Peters  River  (now  called 
the  Minnesota),  they  found  no  welcome  either  from  the 
Indians  or  fi’om  (iovernment  officials.  The  brothers 
at  once  .set  about  the  task  of  learning  the  language, 
an.l  their  first  effort  to  Christianize  and  civilize  the 
Indians  was  by  teaching  them  t.:>  plow.  In  this  way 
they  soon  gained  the  confi  lence  of  the  Indian  Agent, 
as  well  as  of  the  In  Hans  themselves.  A few  weeks 
later  tlu*  Ke\'.  Thomas  S.  M'illiamson  M.  1).,  arrived 
at  Ft.  Sneliing  under  appointment  from  the  American 
Hoaid  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  exploi-e  the  country 
with  the  view  of  starting  a Mi.ssion  among  the  Sioux. 
Thus  ( lod  was  convei’ging  his  rays  of  (iospel  light  on 
this  dai-kfield.  Dr.  William.son  i-eturne,!  to  his  home 
in  Ohio,  and  l)rought  out  his  family  the  following 
yeai'.  The  Pond  l)rothers  proceeded  to  erect  their 
little  ‘*C'abind)y-the-lake’'  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Cal- 
houn. within  the  pi-esent  limits  of  the  city  of  Minnea- 
polis. d'he  wintei-  of  1834-35  was  spent  in  accpiiring 
a better  knowledge  of  the  language,  and  reducing  it 
to  writing.  This  was  no  easy  task,  but  was 
well  done,  and  when  Dr.  William.son  arrived  th(‘ 
following  s])ring.  the  lines  were  well  laid  for  the 
future  development  of  that  difficult  language.  The 
two  brothel's  had  di.scovered  the  Dakota  ■‘verb", 
which  .some  of  the  (iovernment  interjiretei's  had  claim- 
ed was  not  in  existence.  This  verb,  as  shown  by  the 
e.xcellent  (irammai-  jirepai'ed  later  by  Dr.  Stephen  R. 
Riggs,  and  jiublished  by  the  United  States  (iovern- 
ment. is  shown  to  be  one  of  the  most  comiilex  known 
to  the  human  race.  On  pages  38  and  39  of  that 
(irammar  we  have  the  paradigm  of  the  verb-root  Ksa, 
to  cut,  and  theverl)is  shown  to  lan  e numerous  forms, 
first  of  all  to  denote  the  three  persons,  and  the  singu- 
lar. dual,  and  plural  numbei's;  six  different  forms  to 
denote  the  recipient  of  the  cutting,  whether  “him”, 
“thee"'. "me",  "them",  "you",  or  "us";  .seven  ditfei  - 
ent  forms  to  de.scribe  the  kind  of  cutting,  such  as 


■■yiiUsir',  to  hi-i nk  off  III  iiiiij  ii'iiij^  ‘“.vaksa".  to  hiti 
iff\  “paksa“,  to  'iri'iik  <ff'^>!/  itn>ilini<i.  “naksa”,  to 
tifi'iil'  iff  iritJi  tin-  foot,  “kaksa” to  cut  inth  on  n.r, 
“hoksa"',  to  ahoot  off'  or  jumch  off',  “liak.sa'*.  to  cut 
off'  ir'ith  o knifr  or  Kinr\  anti  live  forms  to  denote  the 
WCi  'AS  ffr<'<!  "rutot  / rr,  ohxotutr,  rrfh'.riri',  jiossi'ksi  n\  oi- 
ihitl re. 

The  following  years  were  busy  ones,  the  chief  work 
Iteinjjf  translating  the  Sci'iptures,  and  also  preparinji: 
Christian  hymns  in  the  native  tongue.  Dr.  AVilliam- 
son  soon  moved  u])  to  Lacquipai  le,  nearly  ‘200  miles 
up  the  rivei’.  where  in  the  following  summer  he  was 
joined  by  Kev.  Stephen  R Kijrirs,  and  tojrether  they 
planned  for  the  oTeat  work.  Betore  leaving  Ft. 
Snelling.  Dr.  Williamson  organized  a Presl).vterian 
Church,  with  22  members,  the  tir.st  in  the  noi-thwest. 
June  11.  1885.  This  “Church  of  St.  Peters"  is  now 
known  as  the  First  Presbyterian  Chui-ch  of  Minnea- 
polis. the  mother  church  of  many  states.  From  this 
small  begining  the  Dakota  Presbytery  has  grown  to2h 
churches  served  by  17  ordained  native  ministers  and 
having  over  1500  communicants. 

The  Outbreak  Of  1862. 

For  twenty-Hve  years  these  heroic  men  and  women 
lived  and  labored  among  the.se  savages.  The  diffi- 
culties they  encountered  and  the  sacrifices  they  made 
in  their  etfoi'ts  to  win  their  confidence  and  preach  the 
gosi)el  to  them  no  pen  can  de.sci-ibe.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  their  converts  could  almost  be  counted  on 
the  fingers  of  two  hands.  But  they  fainted  not;  nor 
did  they  become  discouraged.  Ju.st  as  there  seemed 
to  be  hope  of  better  things,  from  the  north  there 
swooped  down  upon  them  and  the  helpless  settlers 
about  them,  a swarm  of  painted,  howling  savages  who 
butchered  over  five  hundred  white  men,  women  and 
children  and  laid  waste  their  homes.  Dr.  Williamson 
and  family  remained  in  their  home  two  days  after  the 
settlers  had  fled  or  been  massacred.  Being  warned 
of  their  danger,  however,  they  made  their  escape, 
Iteing  aided  by  some  faithful  Christian  Indians,  pro- 


minent  amon^whorn  were  Robert  Caskedan  and  Peter 
Tapetatanka.  An  army  was  (luickly  raised,  the  whole 
I)and  captured  and  four  hundred  of  them  condemned 
to  death.  Thirty  eight  were  executed;  the  others 
being  pardoned  by  President  Lincoln. 

The  Great  Revival 

The  killing  of  so  many  settlers  caused  great  excite- 
ment. The  missionaries  felt  the  full  force  of  public 
sentiment  which  condemneil  the  Indians.  Notwith- 
standing their  personal  safety  was  endangered  there- 
l).v,  the  missionaries  still  befriended  the  prisoners. 
Tlie  Indians,  finding  Dr.  Williamson  ready  in  the  face 
of  danger  to  visit  and  preach  to  them  in  prison,  at 
once  gave  him  their  confidence.  God  graciously  pour- 
ed our  His  Spirit  on  those  condemned  savages  and  a 
great  company  of  them  was  converted.  Dr.  William- 
son and  R('v.  Gideon  II.  Pond  bajitized  two  hundred 
of  them  in  Mankato  prison  on  one  day.  A little  later 
one  hundred  and  forty  more  were  baptized  at  Fort 
.Snelling,  and  dui'ing  the  next  year  one  hundred  and 
twenty  were  added  to  the  Crow  Creek  Church.  Four 
men  converted  in  the  prison  at  .Mankato  became  min- 
nisters,  one  of  whom.  Rev.  W.  Owancayamaza  Rogers 
is  now  living,  and  three.  Rev.  Artemas  Ehnamani, 
Rev.  Titus  Icaduze  and  Rev.  Louis  Mazawakinyanna, 
after  many  yeai-s  of  faithful  service,  have  passed  to 
their  reward.  That  revival  was  a genuine  work  of 
grace.  Almost  without  e.xcei>tion  the  converts  lived 
clean,  pure,  true  Christian  lives  and  died  triumphant 
deaths. 

The  Turning  Point. 

The  massacre,  with  all  its  horrors,  and  the  revival, 
with  its  matchless  work  of  gi-ace,  marked  sharply  the 
turning  point  in  the  history  of  the  Sioux.  Now  they 
were  to  “forget  the  things  which  were  behind’’  them 
as  savages  and  to  “press  forward  to  the  things  which 
were  before"  them  as  Chri.stians.  A school  was  de- 
manded. The  cull  was  so  imperious  that  the  mission- 
aries set  to  work  at  once  to  secure  it.  Their  hopes 


Kev.  Stephen  K.  Ivio-.tjs  I).  I).  Founder  of  the 
(iood  Will  Training'  School. 

were  not  fully  realized,  howevei',  until  1870.  Dr. 
Kigg.s  selected  the  location,  ei-ected  the  hr.st  building 
and  oi)eneil  school,  naming  it  “Good  Will."  Tlie 
school  work  began  in  earnest.  The  attendance  in- 
creased from  year  to  year,  men,  women  and  children 
seeking  to  avail  themselves  of  the  advantages  of  the 
school.  Other  buildings  were  erected,  and  in  187(1 
six  young  men  took  up  their  abode  in  one  of  ih.em, 
bringing  their  own  provisions  and  cooking  their  own 
meals,  thus  establi.shing  the  boarding  department. 
All  of  these  young  men  became  ministers.  In  1882 
the  plant  was  greatly  enlarged,  and  Good  Will  became 
a training  and  industrial  school.  Since  its  opening 
many  hundi'eds  of  bright,  intelligent  Sioux  girls  and 
boys  have  i)assed  through  the  school  and  have  made 
homes  for  themselves  on  the  re.se rvation,  proving 
themselves  willing  and  capable  of  ailopting  the  ways 


of  their  white  Christian  teachers  and  neighbors. 

In  190-i  a theological  department  was  organized , 
and  students  preparing  for  active  service  as  minister  ; 
and  missionaries,  as  well  as  officers  and  teachers  in 
the  churches  have  opportunities  to  study  Bible  doc- 
trine and  church  history,  and  the  literary  course  is  now 
extended  to  cover  the  lii-st  ten  grades  usually  taught 
in  the  i)ublic  schools,  besides  an  excellent  course  in 
music. 

A Busy  Place. 

The  (lood  Will  Training  School  is  a Chi'istian  home 
as  well  as  a Christian  school.  Intense  activity  charac- 
tei’izes  the  place.  From  .5  o'clock  in  the  morning  un- 
til 8:  80  in  the  evening  teachers  and  nu])ils  are  like 
busy  bees,  all  intent  u])on  accomi)lishing  their  tasks. 
The  girls  ai’e  tavight  cooking,  laundering,  sewing,  pei- 
sonal  hygiene,  the  i)ropei'  care  of  their  I’ooms  and 
other  household  duties.  The  boysai’e  trained  to  care 
for  the  stock,  and  have  practical  experience  in  plow- 
ing. i)lanting,  cultivating,  harvesting  and  the  i)roper 
housing  of  grains  and  grasses,  together  with  the  use 
of  tools  in  the  shops.  So  that,  having  completed  their 
course  of  training,  those  boys  and  girls  go  out  to 
make  homes  and  become  thrifty  farmers  anti  active, 
intelligent,  Christian  citizens.  The  eight  Presbyter- 
ian churches  surrounding  the  school,  with  their  more 
than  six  hundred  communicants,  ministered  to  l)y 
native  pastors,  speak  volumes  for  the  success  of  the 
work  and  the  faithfulne.ss  of  the  mi.ssionaries  and 
teachers. 

A Successful  Work. 

d'he  work  was  difficult  and  i>rogress  was  slow  at 
first.  Many  old  heathen  customs  had  to  be  chang<'d 
and  many  prejudices  overcome.  The  Indian  warrior 
distlained  work — looked  upon  it  as  humiliating,  if 
not  disgraceful.  The  stpiaws  worked,  bnt  not  the 
l)raves.  This  even  affected  the  children  at  school, 
the  boys  to  a greater  degree  than  the  girls,  it  is  true, 
l)ut  all  alike.  They  were  willing  to  be  worked  for, 
but  not  to  work  for  themselves  or  others.  Mdien  put 


Teachers  and  students  of  Good  Will  Traininj*  School, 
1901.  Taken  in  the  larj<e  Mission  Conference  Tent. 


to  tlieir  tasks  they  would  run  away.  Tlie  boys  at 
work  at  the  woodpile,  or  on  the  farm,  or  in  the  shop, 
if  they  saw  an  Indian  man  «'aIIo]>ing'  over  the  hill  on 
his  pony,  would  drop  theii-  tools  and  scamper  to  the 
house.  They  knew  that  should  they  he  cauyht  at 
work,  they  would  he  disg-raced  in  the  eyes  of  their 
fathers  and  friends.  So  the  y-irls  about  their  cook- 
in<r,  dishwashino’  and  laundry  work  would  feel  cha- 
grined if  caught  at  it  by  their  mothers.  Di-.  William- 
son laboi'ed  lonyand  patiently  with  the  Christian  men, 
to  induce  them  to  fence  land  and  cultivate  <J-ai-dens. 
The  first  one  to  plant  and  cultivate  a crop  was  .Simon 
Anawan<^mani.  Ilis  old  associates  made  fun  of  1dm 
and  did  all  they  could  to  dissuade  him;  and  his  wife, 
after  earnestly  protestinjr,  deserted  him,  saying  he 
had  diso;raced  himself.  Ilowever,  he  ])ersisted,  and 
when  his  croj)  was  frathered  his  wife  i-epented  and  re- 
turned home  as  a trood  wife  should.  Nowfidids  «dory 
in  theii’  alhlity  to  do  housework,  and  their  mothers 
are  pi-oud  of  them.  Boys  lioast  of  theii-  skill  in  the 
use  of  tools,  and  vie  with  each  other  in  turninj^  off 
yood  work  in  the  shop  and  on  the  farm;  and  their 
fathers  honor  them  for  it.  Men  trained  at  (food 
Will  have  opened  farms,  and  take  a just  pride  in  their 
tine  stock  and  yood  crops:  and  their  wives,  educated 
with  them,  are  “praised  in  the  yates“  l).v  their  hus- 
liands  for  manayiny  their  households  “with  discre- 
tion.'* The  Siou.x  aliout  (Jood  M'ill,  from  a wild, 
lawless,  filthy,  la/.y  and  treacherous  band  of  .sa\  ayes, 
have  become  a docile,  law-al)i<liny,  (deanly,  industri- 
ous and  thrifty  community  of  Christian  citizens.  The 
mission,  with  its  church,  .school  and  farm,  under  (iod, 
has  accomplished  it  all.  Those  Indians  are  miracles 
of  yrace. 

A new  department  in  the  industrial  work  was  es-. 
talilished  in  1905,  that  of  printiny;  and  now  a month- 
ly paper,  “The  (food  M"ill  Tidinys"  is  pulilished  by 
the  students  for  the  lienetit  of  the  friends  of  the 
•school,  and  of  many  Dakota  peojile  who  can  read 
Enylish,  while  a Dakota  edition,  “Tawacinwaste  Ta- 


wootiinin"  is  publislied  for  the  Dakotas.  The  sub- 
scription price  is  very  small,  25  cents,  and  the  many 
friends  of  the  work  can  thus  jj-et  continuous  tidinj^s 
of  (iod's  work  in  the  land  of  the  Dakotas. 


“Honor  To  Whom  Honor” 

Early  in  their  e.xperience  Drs.  Williamson  and 
Hijigs  recognized  the  evils  of  the  tribal  system.  They 
saw  clearly  the  difficulties  of  advancing  the  interests 
of  the  Indians  under  it.  Dealing  with  the  tribe,  and 
not  with  the  individual,  often  i)roved  disastrous. 
Slowiy  they  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  policy 
adopteil  by  the  (xovernment  was  haianful,  and 
insisted  that  before  satisfactory  results  could  be 
reached  in  the  effort  to  civilize  them,  the  Indians 
must  be  recognized  as  men  and  dealt  with  as  such. 
Those  two  godly  men  did  much  toward  revolution- 
izing the  policy  of  the  Government,  as  well  as-broad- 
ening the  scope  of  missionary  effort  among  the  In- 
dians. The  success  of  the  work  at  Good  Will  proves 
the  wisdom  of  planting  .schools  in  the  midst  of  the 
l)eople.  The  non-reservation  school  has  its  advantage, 
l)ut  while  it  benefits  the  individual  child  it  leaves  un- 
touched the  tribe.  The  reservation  school  does  its 
work  in  the  midst  of  the  i)eople;  and  although  results 
are  not  so  marked  at  first,  they  are  far  more  satisfac- 
tory in  the  end.  Even  the  heathen  Indians  are  un- 
able to  resist  the  civilizing  influences  of  a Christian 
training  school  such  as  Good  Will,'  and  show  it  in 
more  industrious  habits,  better  homes  and  cleaner, 
l)urer  lives.  It  costs  more  in  the  way  of  time,  energy 
and  money  to  educate  a tribe  than  it  does  to  educate 
a few  individual  boys  and  girls,  but  the  results  are 
more  satisfactory.  The  statesmanship  of  those  noble 
missionaries  was  manifest  in  the  broad  foundations 
which  they  laid.  The  results  attained  abundantly 
prove  the  wisdom  of  their  course.  Both  the  Church 
and  the  Nation  should  hold  them  in  highe.st  esteem 
foi'  the  work  they  accomplished. 


Good  Will  Training  School;  a view  of  sotni  of  the  biiTding 


Printed  on  the  new  GOOD  WILL  PRESS  by  one  of  the 
students  of  the  Good  Will 
Training  School. 


